Labour have won Stirling and Strathallan in a shock loss for the SNP.
The SNP’s Alyn Smith, who has been MP for Stirling since 2019, lost the seat, which now incorporates parts of the old Ochil and South Perthshire constituency.
Labour’s Chris Kane won 16,856 votes, on a turnout of 66%.
Smith previously held a 9,254 majority.
In third was Conservative candidate Neil Benny with 9,469 votes.
Other candidates included Bill McDonald for Reform UK (3,145 votes), Andrew Adam for the Scottish Green Party (2,320 votes) and Hamish Taylor for the Liberal Democrats (2,530 votes).
Mr Kane described the victory as the “honour” of his life and pledged to work “tirelessly”.
He told The Courier: “It’s humbling. It is energising. A whole mix of emotions, but I feel determined to represent this constituency.
“This is my home – I was born here, I’m raising my family here and I’m invested in this community and I will deliver the change that people have voted for.”
He added that he intends to “hit the ground running”, addressing the issues that matter the most in Stirling and Strathallan from tomorrow.
“People have voted for change,” said Mr Kane. “And in effect what they’ve done is they’ve voted to start the process and now we feel the weight of that responsibility and a Labour Government, which it looks like we’re heading for.
“I’m not counting chickens yet but it looks like that direction.
“We need to hit the ground running and deliver the change that people need because we have had 17 years of an SNP government that isn’t delivering for people and they notice that in their day to day lives.
“We’ve had 14 years of a Conservative government that’s been frankly chaotic and I’m delighted that we’re moving on.”
Mr Smith left the count soon after the declaration, without speaking to The Courier.
The total number of rejected ballots was 242. This included 33 with votes given for more than one candidate and 209 unmarked or void for uncertainty.
How has Stirling voted in the past?
Stirling and Strathallan was one to watch with a three-way race between the SNP, Labour and the Conservatives.
Since 1983, voters in Stirling have elected MPs from all three parties at different general elections.
Scottish Secretary Michael Forsyth was booted from office by his Stirling constituents in a Labour landslide nationally in 1997.
Voters once again showed they were willing to look elsewhere on the ballot in 2015. As the SNP swept Scotland, Stirling was one of the biggest losses for Labour.
Since then, Stirling has switched between the SNP and Conservatives, with Labour often coming in a close third place.
Despite securing a majority of over 10,000 in 2015, the SNP’s Steven Paterson lost out to Conservative challenger Stephen Kerr in the snap election of 2017.
Two years later voters changed their minds once again, opting for the former SNP MEP Alyn Smith.
See more results from across Scotland on our tracker page.
Conversation